Gas hydrates are crystalline solids formed by water and natural gas. These hydrates can form ice-like plugs inside of pipelines for oil and gas operations which can block fluid flow and cause abrasion and deterioration to the pipe wall.
Thermodynamic hydrate inhibitors and kinetic hydrate inhibitors have been utilized to prevent or restrict the formation of these hydrates. Thermodynamic hydrate inhibitors include water removal, increasing temperature, decreasing pressure, addition of “antifreeze” to the fluid and combinations of these methods. Kinetic hydrate inhibitors interfere with the nucleation or growth of the smaller hydrate crystals and prevent them from developing into larger ones. Kinetic hydrate inhibitors can be present in wastewater recovered from oil and gas operations. It is important that these inhibitors be removed so that the wastewater can be re-used or further processed without producing solid wastes and/or generating toxic by-products. Further, kinetic hydrate inhibitors are suspected to cause problems by plugging the reservoirs when wastewater is reinjected.
Prior methods for removing kinetic hydrate inhibitors from wastewater have included bio-treatment, membrane technology, advanced oxidation processes and thermal degradation. These prior methods have proved expensive and/or ineffective. Improvements in this field of technology are therefore desired.